Long Cable Runs

T

TripleJ

New member
Hi,

I have a little home studio with a few condensers/dynamics etc etc running into a yamaha mg10/2 mixer which I use simply as a glorified preamp. I then run the -10 outs from the mixer into a live card (running kx for asio) with good results.

My only comlpaint with this system is that my PC is in the same area as my recording area so I therefore get PC fan noise in my recordings. Not good.

So my plan is basically to have the PC in a different room and run long cables to my recording room. I will have the keyboard/mouse/monitor in my recording room but the actual PC itself in a different room.

Now for the PC cables (mouse/keyboard/monitor) it's not a problem to run them a relatively long distance (10ft).

However seeing as my connection from my mixer to the PC is simply a 2xRCA->3.5mm I am worried about noise.

Do you think that alot of noise will be introduced by having a run this long (not near any high current cables, simply running with the other PC interface cables, no power)?

Or do you think the better option would be to have a usb/firewire interface connected (via extension cable) to the pc and have a really short run from the mixer to the interface?

Thanks guys,
-Dan
 
well..

you dont want the usb/firewire over 3meters, says most manu's, thats 10ft.
3.5mm, is that the 1/8 minijack input?

i would go with the rca-3.5mm rather than a usb. as long as its not absurdley long, like 100ft, its fine. 10ft is nothing.
 
I think common knowledge says unbalanced cables aren't great over 15 ft. You should probably be okay, but don't run the cables over any power cables or too close to a lamp.
 
$.02

with quality cables high impedence line should max out at around 45 ft... (low can go as much as 300ft) unfortunately good cable and 1/8 th" or rca is an oxymoron... best advice is to lose the SB...
 
dementedchord said:
with quality cables high impedence line should max out at around 45 ft... (low can go as much as 300ft) unfortunately good cable and 1/8 th" or rca is an oxymoron... best advice is to lose the SB...
Click to expand...

I don't see anything wrong with the soundblaster in it's current utilisation. It works extremely well for my purposes.

What would be your alternate suggestion?

How much would a small multicore cost? I've seen larger ones go for fairly cheap on eBay.
 
TragikRemix said:
you dont want the usb/firewire over 3meters, says most manu's, thats 10ft.
3.5mm, is that the 1/8 minijack input?
Click to expand...

FireWire can be 15 feet per hop, and you can chain it with hubs up to several hundred feet.

With special optical hardware, you can extend it up to a kilometer per hop. I'm told it gets a little cranky when the latency gets much more than that.... :D
 
$.02

TripleJ said:
I don't see anything wrong with the soundblaster in it's current utilisation. It works extremely well for my purposes.

What would be your alternate suggestion?

.
Click to expand...


if it works for you fine... i think though if you search the board here (or anywherelse) you'll find loads of people with issues that ultimately come down to SB's not playing well with others... to say nothing of some rather misleading claims from the co... such as 24/96 recording... data seems to support the fact that they try to convert to 16/44 in real time reguardless of what you have ticked in properties... and its kinda confusing being as they own emu and they dont suffer from these issues.... its been pointed out here and other places that the m audio stuff doesnt have these problems and are in some case less expensive.... but im not a gear pimp and have no dog in the fight...
 
dementedchord said:
if it works for you fine... i think though if you search the board here (or anywherelse) you'll find loads of people with issues that ultimately come down to SB's not playing well with others... to say nothing of some rather misleading claims from the co... such as 24/96 recording... data seems to support the fact that they try to convert to 16/44 in real time reguardless of what you have ticked in properties... and its kinda confusing being as they own emu and they dont suffer from these issues.... its been pointed out here and other places that the m audio stuff doesnt have these problems and are in some case less expensive.... but im not a gear pimp and have no dog in the fight...
Click to expand...
Soundblaster Live, not Audigy. The live is a modest card (doesn't claim to do 24/96) but works extremely well for someone wanting a 2in 2out solution.

The hacked drivers have their own DSP and routing so you can basically do whatever you want to the signal.
 
I started with a soundblaster live & moved on when I knew (through experience rather than was told)I could afford it. I have a whole pile of stuff I recorded with it that sounds OK. I know, however, that it'd sound better through a better card & I'd LOVE to be able to go into those recordings & tweak them but they aren't really tweakable due to their sample rate, conversion, etc etc etc.
Keep doing what you're doing BUT if you come into some money ( & I bought an 8 in/out INCA card with b/out box for only $120 or so on eBay) you really should consider upgrading even to a Santa Cruz or something similar.
Your concerns about cable noise show you have an understanding of problems in sound. You will want to improve & be more flexible with your recordings as you develop.
Really, if you're far enough along to concern yourself with cable runs you're far enough along to HEAR the difference in soundcards.
Then again you could bite the bullet & go to tape.
 
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